My typical benchmark for what a non-BA Russian imperial stout can be. Not much else that needs to be said over the other 2,000+ reviews, but this is also an excellent candidate for an easily-obtained beer for cellaring and experimentation. Masterfully done. (257 characters)

Aroma: I get alcohol right off the bat. It smells a lot like bourbon but the can doesn't say it is aged in bourbon barrels or anything.

Taste: There's a lot going on here. It tastes like chocolate and coffee at first, then there is a bit of a black licorice flavor, and a sweet brown sugar flavor. It has a bit of a bourbon flavor as well. It tastes pretty awesome.

Mouthfeel: A very full bodied beer. Not too chewy or oily but not something you could chug. It's a definite sipper.

Overall: A really good beer. It has a good complex flavor and a nice full body. I would buy it again, but I'm making a note that this is a very rich beer and would be best as a night-cap, holidays, special occasions, etc. Don't let the can fool you. This is the type of beer you could easily find in a waxed bomber. Yeah, I would buy it again. It's the type of beer that delivers the "RIS" experience. (953 characters)

Finally got to try this one and it immediately entered my top 5 stouts list. Has a sweetness to it, but is not overly sweet. As much as I love chocolate and/or coffee stouts, it was nice to have one with no flavoring. Can't wait to grab more of these. (251 characters)

I love stouts but I'm ashamed to say that I put off trying Ten FIDY for a long time while I worked through many other stouts because I was afraid they might pale in comparison. Now I'm disappointed that I waited so long, this one is worth the extra effort to obtain. Pours a beautiful, thick khaki colored head that dissipated quickly. Smells sweet and malty, and the taste matches this - a balanced beer that is creamy with amazingly smooth feel. The alcohol kicks in at the finish with just a touch of bitterness, but it isn't a burner like many other RIS I have tried. This is the top of the line for non-flavored, non-barrel-aged stouts and every stout enthusiast should try this as a benchmark. (699 characters)

Quaker State; Valvoline; Castrol GTX; Oskar Blues Ten Fidy—the closest thing to a sludgy motor oil that you will find on the list. The beer flows from the stout’s trademark can at the same pace that Bartolo Colon gets down the line after lacing a double (just kidding, single) into left-center. The nose is complex, revealing roasted malt, chocolate, toffee, booze, figs, soy sauce (seriously), teriyaki beef jerky (seriously) and molasses one after the next. But the most striking quality of this OB creation is the finish… the beer goes down with a slight numbing that renders this brew dangerously drinkable. No flavor stands out. Instead, the tastes fuse to create something that is uniquely Oskar Blues. Speaking of uniquely Oskar Blues, who the hell decided to put a rich stout in a can? Despite its Colorado roots, this brew is not something that I would generally choose to take with me on a hike or rafting trip (read: I don’t like to mix physical activity with imperial stouts). And despite a valiant attempt, Ten Fidy just does not stand up to most of the other dark beers on the list. (1,104 characters)

F-I'm not exaggerating when I say drinking this beer is like having your tongue wrapped up in a blanket. It's thick, but with just enough slight carbonation to let you know it's a beer. After swallowing a pleasant alcohol warmness rolls to the back of your throat and up your nostrils.

O-Absolutely outstanding. The best russian imperial I've ever had. The mouth feel is incredible. This beer is a knockout. (861 characters)

Big ass beer. Not for the casual. Big and boozy, this poured porch black with a lot of chocolate on the nose. Sweet, chocolaty with a smooth roasty finish. Body is HUGE. Like yogurt is to beer. I get some banana, but nothing extreme; others would say fruity, but to me is banana. Low carbonation but head sticks around the whole time.

Not one I'd have a lot of at once, but worth taking your time on every once and a while. It's a sipper. (440 characters)

This black, slightly viscous stout pours to a beautiful medium creamy brown head that gradually dissipates to a thick ring and leaves sparse, delicate lacing. The nose is a bit sweet and darkly malty, a very nice blend of chocolate, caramel and dark toffee with hints of coffee and readily apparent boozy undertones. On the palate, it is sweet chocolate and cocoa up front, joined by a significant molasses character and hints of coffee mid-palate. The finish is dark, roasted maltiness that leaves behind a lingering chocolate/molasses flavor and a slight bitterness. Mouthfeel is full and luxuriously thick, as well as warming due to the ABV; the carbonation makes itself known as well. Alcohol flavors are surprisingly absent from the palate, so caveat bibitor. (764 characters)

Oskar Blues Ten FIDY has a thin, beige head and a dark brown (black, really) appearance, with some splotchy lacing left on the glass. The aroma and flavor are bold: the smell is of sweet, dark-roasted (but, not burnt) malt, sugar, and coffee, and the flavor is of those elements, with a touch of char, sugar, oatmeal puree’, mild black liquorice, background celery, and bitterness, which being counter-balanced by the extreme malt, does not come across as a 98 IBU thing. Mouthfeel is heavy and viscous, and Oskar Blues Ten FIDY finishes in between wet and dry, with an alcohol presence noticeable in the body, but not so much in the flavor. Actually, not at all in the flavor, really.

A: Pours like motor oil. Pitch black allowing absolutely no light to penetrate it. Head is a robust thick mocha color. Excellent retention as the head lingers for awhile. Leaves behind some small amounts of beautiful lacing.

M: Full bodied, moderate carbonation, creamy, oily, and smooth. Alcohol is hidden well for being 10.5% but still gives a nice warming sensation. All of those factors make it a somewhat easy drinker that you want to saver as a sipper.

O: This is one of my personal favorite stouts. This is just truly a great beer that I look forward to every year. I always stock up so I can enjoy it throughout the year. I would put Ten Fidy in the same category as Founders Breakfast Stout, and Surly's Darkness, as some of the best non-barrel aged stouts. (980 characters)

Odd occurrence. I peruse my local whole foods for beer often. Suddenly two weeks ago their selection of Oskar Blues quadrupled, and for the first time I saw Ten Fidy and immediately bought some. I open it up and it smells like.... SOY SAUCE. The 2015 Parabola smelled and tasted like soy sauce but it was balanced and it played nicely as an umami - ish element. Unfortunately I am pretty bummed out how much soy sauce I taste and smell blocking what seems like a great beer, especially being hype from its reviews.

Now the odd occurrence is that I looked on the bottling date and it was a year and a half old. Did Whole Foods go to a distributor and accidentally pick up beer that had been sitting there that long? Did they think " oh stouts age lets buy it anyways." I dunno. So Ill look for a fresh batch one day, or a guaranteed well aged one but for now this is just an alright beer. (888 characters)

In my opinion, this is what other beers want to be when they grow up. Very dark (the lights dim in the room when you pour it dark). Small head with nice lacing, rich taste. This is my mainstay when I am in the mood for a stout. (227 characters)

God, I wanted to hate this beer because at $15 a four pack it's a little out of my price range for drinking often. But, as the reviewers before me can attest, this is an outstanding beer that is one of the finest beers I've ever drank and definitely the finest I've ever had from a can. I look forward to dropping large sums of money on this in the future. (359 characters)

Almost a perfect stout. I enjoy stouts a great deal and this is one I keep coming back to. Pours like motor oil. Flavor is perfectly balanced between sweet and bitter. Heavy and thick mouthfeel with above average carbonation to lighten it into an easy drinker. This is a feat for a 10.5 ABV imperial stout.

Overall this is near perfect. Not quite as complex as a KBS but doesn't have to be. I could drink this every day of the year. I can't say that for the KBS which I love in its own way.

Right out of the gate, Ten Fidy tells you it means business, pouring dirty-motor-oil black and viscous topped with a deep tan head that takes a minute or two to recede.

The nose is dense with chocolate--fudge, chocolate cake, some cocoa--over top aromas of dried fruit and plum, some booze, and a whiff of oily espresso. A faint scent of soy sauce appears as the beer approaches room temperature.

Richly flavored without being oppresive, cocoa dominates on the palate, with an array of malt flavors supporting it. I feel like I can taste a little of every shade across the spectrum of malt kilning, stewing, and roasting. Full-bodied and viscous, the interplay of modest hop bitterness and acrid bitterness from roasted malts keeps this fairly sweet RIS from becoming tiresome on the tongue.

The namesake "ten fidy" makes itself known immediately on the finish. The tongue tingles with a gentle--but undeniable--alcoholic warmth that even numbs a bit, like a very mild anesthetic. A little too much so for my taste, but it does keep the beer from seeming cloying, helping to make this heavyweight dangerously drinkable. (1,178 characters)

I never thought I could love a beer this much from a CAN!far and away the de-facto Imp stout you should try if you haven't yet.pours BLACK, thin foamy mocha head that smells smokey, roast-y, and fig-y.mostly chocolate roasted malts with hints of dark coffee (very mild) and bittersweet.not much else I can say that already hasn't been said about this beer.it's just top-notch, and I will buy again and again. (413 characters)

Roasted malts, some dark cocoa, and a nice dry finish. The only thing not perfectly nailing this style is the higher carbonation. Fantastic overall. I wish Oskar Blues would can a nitro version of this like they do with Old Chub. (231 characters)

Milk chocolate colored head 1/4" high. Midnight black body with plenty of effervescence. One of my favorite Stouts! A must try for all reel beer drinkers. It is incredibly balanced for such a high alcohol content. TEN FIDY to be exact(10.5)! (242 characters)

Pours a pitch black body with a beatiful tan head. Dark fruits and other stouty aromas dominate the nose with some alcohol mixed in with it. The flavor took me by surprise, I could detect almost no roasty coffee flavors! But with this said, the bold dark chocolate and dark fruity flavors work very well together and while there is quite a bit of alcohol in the taste it is not off putting at all. The body is SUPER thick and creamy. This is really an amazing stout, only complaint is the lack of coffee and roasty flavors! But be warned, this is definitely a sipping beer! (573 characters)

Poured 12oz can at about 45-50 degrees into DFH signature glass (a snifter)

Appearance - 5/5After a vigorous pour down the middle of the glass, a massive amount of beautiful chocolately brown head arise. It grows so big it almost overflows the glass. The color of the brew is inky black, with not even the slightly notes of anything but black. The head retention seems really good, a nice layer of foams stays around for most of the drinking.

Taste - 4.5/5Very sweet. Roasty malts, cholocate and toffee flavors up front along with a perfect amount of smokiness which doesn't overwhelm the rest of the flavors. Some hop flavors near the end of the sip, along with some additional smokiness. There is a slight booziness throughout the sip, but it's very small and mostly covered up by the rest of the flavor.

Mouthfeel - 4.5/5Ultra-creamy, such a luxurious mouthfeel. Puts all other creamy beers to shame. Only a light amount of medium-light carbonation. Medium-full body. Despite the 90+ IBUs, this wasn't very biter IMO.

Overall - 4.5/5This was an incredible Russian Imperial Stout. One that I will definitely be buying plenty more of in the future. If you've never tried this, please get your hands on some of this ASAP. (1,340 characters)